How cheering is the sight of a man of God!

Posted : 8 May, 2013 02:15 AM

Psalm 119:74 Those who do not fear, will be glad when they see me:because I have hoped in Your word.





How cheering is the sight of a man of God! How refreshing his

converse! How satisfactory and enlivening is the exhibition of

his faith! The goodness of God to one becomes thus the joy

and comfort of all. What an excitement is this to close

communion with our God, that the light which we thus receive

will shine on those around us! What a comfort will it be even in

our own hour of temptation, that the hope, which we may then

be enabled to maintain in the word of God, shall prove the

stay, not only of our own souls, but of the Lord's people! Many

a desponding Christian, oppressed with such fears as this-"I

shall one day perish by the hand of Saul"-when he hears of

one and another exercised in the same trials, and who have

hoped in God's word, and have not been disappointed, will be

glad when he sees them. Thus David recorded his conflicts,

that we may not despair of our own; and his triumphs, that "in

the name of our God we might set up our banners." "I had

fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage,

and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Thus also, under affliction, he was comforted with the thought

of comforting others with the history of his own experience-

"My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall

hear thereof, and be glad. O praise the Lord with me, and let

us magnify His name together. He has put a new song in my

mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear,

and shall trust in the Lord. Bring my soul out of prison, that I

may praise Your name; the righteous shall compass me

about, for You shall deal bountifully with me."

In this view, the believer, who has been "sifted in the sieve" of

temptation, without the least "grain" of faith or hope "falling upon the earth," stands forth as a monument of the Lord's

faithfulness, to "strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the

feeble knees, and to say to them that are of fearful heart, Be

strong, fear not." Those that are "fearful, and of little faith," are

glad when they see him. They "thank God" for him, and "take

courage" for themselves. What a motive is this to keep us

from despondency; that, instead of destroying by our unbelief,

those who are already "cast down," we may enjoy the

privilege of upholding their confidence, and ministering to their

comfort! And how should the weak and distressed seek for

and prize the society of those, who have been instructed by

the discipline of the Lord's school!

Believer! what have you to tell to your discouraged brethren of

the faithfulness of your God? Cannot you put courage into

their hearts, by declaring that you have never been "ashamed

of your hope?" Cannot you tell them from your own

experience, that Jesus "is for a foundation-stone, a tried

stone, a sure foundation?" Cannot you show them, that,

because He has borne the burden of their sins, He is able to

"bear their griefs, and to carry their sorrows?" that you have

tried Him, and that you have found Him so? Oh! be animated

to know more of Christ yourself; let your hope in Him be

strengthened, that you may cause gladness in the hearts of

those that, see you; so that, "whether you be afflicted, or

whether you be comforted, it may be for their consolation and

salvation."

But, O my God! how much cause have I for shame, that I

impart so little of Your glorious light to those around me!

Perhaps some poor trembling sinner has been glad when he

saw me, hoping to hear something of the Savior from my lips,

and has found me straitened, and cold, and dumb. Oh! that I

may be so "filled with the Spirit," so experienced in Your

heavenly ways, that I may invite "all that do not fear to come

to me," that I may "declare what You have done for my soul;" so that, "when men are cast down, they may say, There is

lifting up."



by

Charles Bridges

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